Baby-carriage.



No. 642,464. Patented Jan. 30, I900. a. A. LANCIAUX & 0. 'F. SMITH.

BABY CARRIAGE.

(Application filed May 29, 1899.

(No Model.)

NITEDA STATES GEORGE A. LANCIAUX, OF INDIAN ORCHARD, AND OLIVER F. SMITH, OF

SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

BABY-CARRIAG E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,464, dated January 30, 1900.

Application filed May 29, 1899. Serial No. 718,717. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that we, GEORGE A. LANOIAUX, a resident of Indian Orchard, and OLIVER F. SMITH, a resident of Springfield, in the'county of Ham pden and State of Massachusetts, citizens of the United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baby-Carriages, of which the followin g is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in baby-carriages of the class in which the pair of forward wheels thereof are smaller than the rear wheels and are separately mounted in swiveling forks, whereby it becomes possible to turn the carriage completely or partly around by sidewise pressure on the push-handle without the necessity of pressing down upon the latter to elevate the front wheels clear of the ground, as most commonly practiced where the front wheels are both carried upon the end of the front axle. v

The present invention particularly relates to the new specific means employed whereby the swiveling forks for the front wheels are journaled upon the opposite bars comprised in the supporting-frame for the carriage, the said device to this end being of extreme simplicity and cheapness and permitting most readily the assemblage or displacement of the parts for repair, lubrication, or replacement or substitution; and the invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, as specifically described, shown, and set forth in the claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which this invention is illustrated.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a baby-carriage, showing the improved mounting for the swivel-forks at the front thereof. Fig. 2 is a front view and partial vertical section. Fig.

3 is a plan view of the front end portion of one of the side bars comprised in the carriagebody, inverted, showing the improved bracket or casting in which the stem of the fork is applied. Fig. 4 is a partial front view of one of the forks and its stem, the latter being partially in central section, together with the retaining device. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the bracket or casting aforementioned.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all of the views.

In the drawings, A represents the carriagebody spring-supported above the carriage frame B, as usual, said frame comprising the lower horizontal parallel longitudinally-extending bars or members a a, and said frame is at the rear united by the transverse axle b for the large rear wheels 0.

D D represent the pair of smaller front wheels arranged outside of the bars act, they being mounted in the forks F F, each of which at its upper part is provided with the upwardly-extended stem (1, which protrudes and has its journal-bearing for rotation within the vertical hollow hub-like member f of the castiron bracket or fork support G. The said casting G comprises the flat member g, which is adapted to lie against and longitudinally under and along the forward portion of the bar a, being firmly secured thereto by screws or bolts, as indicated at 9 and, furthermore, comprises the angular outwardly-extending horizontal member h, at the outer extremity of which the aforesaid upstanding roller-hub f is supported as an integrally-provided part thereof.

The stem of the fork F is preferably, and as shown in Fig.4 at 10, necked down be tween its upper and lower ends, leaving the larger comparatively short cylindrical portions 12 12 thereof to constitute adequate journals without unnecessary length of hearing for undue friction. The upper end of the stem is provided with a vertical screw-tapped socket 13, in which the threaded stem 14 of the shouldered retainer-screw 'i engages.

We are aware that baby-carriages have been proposed in which the wheels thereof were in a way mounted in forks adapted to swivel in somewhat the same manner as do the forks herein described and shown, and such we do not broadly claim; but

What we specifically claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a baby-carriage, the combination with the carriage-frame comprising the horizontal parallel longitudinal bars a a, and the uniting rear axle having the large rear wheels mounted thereon, of the castings or brackets G each of which comprises the flat longitudinal member g, which is secured under the forward end portion of one of said bars, the horizontal outwardly-extending member h, and the integrally-formed upstanding hollow hub-like member f, of the fork F, for each of the pair of smaller front Wheels, provided with the upstanding stem (1 extending and journaled within the said hollow member f, and the retainer t, all substantially as described and I0 shown.

GEO. A. LANOIAUX. OLIVER F. SMITH. Witnesses:

WM. S. BELLoWs, M. A. CAMPBELL, 

